Susquehanna Has Lowered Expectations for Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) Stock Price

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) had its price target decreased by research analysts at Susquehanna from $6,500.00 to $5,000.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “positive” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Susquehanna’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 22.65% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on BKNG. Bank of America upgraded shares of Booking from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $6,000.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Booking from $6,500.00 to $6,250.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. B. Riley Financial increased their target price on Booking from $6,700.00 to $6,800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Booking from $6,000.00 to $6,200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays set a $5,500.00 price objective on Booking and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Twenty-eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $5,971.64.

Booking Stock Performance

Booking stock opened at $4,076.79 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $5,007.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $5,181.61. Booking has a 1 year low of $3,871.01 and a 1 year high of $5,839.41. The company has a market capitalization of $129.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21.

Booking’s stock is set to split on Monday, April 6th. The 25-1 split was announced on Wednesday, February 18th. The newly created shares will be payable to shareholders after the closing bell on Thursday, April 2nd.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The business services provider reported $48.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $47.96 by $0.84. Booking had a net margin of 20.08% and a negative return on equity of 128.99%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $41.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Booking will post 209.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Booking

In other news, Director Robert J. Mylod, Jr. sold 40 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,105.36, for a total transaction of $204,214.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 840 shares in the company, valued at $4,288,502.40. This represents a 4.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 953 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5,181.34, for a total value of $4,937,817.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 19,615 shares in the company, valued at $101,631,984.10. This trade represents a 4.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 3,108 shares of company stock worth $15,287,682 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Booking

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westside Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Booking by 400.0% in the second quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 4 shares during the period. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Booking by 150.0% in the 3rd quarter. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC now owns 5 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 3 shares during the period. Guerra Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Booking in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in shares of Booking during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Daytona Street Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Booking during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Booking News

Here are the key news stories impacting Booking this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat: BKNG reported Q4 revenue of $6.35B (+16% y/y) and EPS of $48.80, with room nights +9% and gross bookings +16% — strong operating metrics that underpin the stock’s upside. Q4 earnings highlights
• Positive Sentiment: 25-for-1 stock split: management announced a 25-to-1 split effective early April, which increases retail accessibility/liquidity and often supports demand from individual investors. MarketBeat BKNG page (split)
• Positive Sentiment: AI as a productivity lever: management highlighted generative-AI initiatives to improve personalization and conversion, which could be a medium-term margin tailwind if execution scales. Generative AI coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forward tone: company gave constructive revenue growth guidance for the quarter (revenue growth range above some Street estimates), though currency-adjusted growth and margin cadence bear watching. Guidance & metrics comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Documentation released: earnings transcript, slide deck and call replay are available for investors who want to dig into unit economics and regional trends. Earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst price-target cuts: multiple firms trimmed targets (examples include Susquehanna, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and others), which pressured sentiment and contributed to recent near-term weakness. Benzinga: price-target cuts / 52-week low
• Negative Sentiment: AI disintermediation fears & insider selling: investors remain concerned that big‑tech AI agents could bypass OTAs and that higher marketing spend may compress near-term margins; CEO share sales in February add a modest negative optics element. Deep dive on AI/marketing impact Read More.

About Booking

Booking Holdings Inc is a global online travel company that operates a portfolio of consumer brands and technology platforms that facilitate the search for and booking of travel services. The company’s businesses focus on accommodations, transportation and related travel services through consumer-facing websites and apps as well as partner distribution channels. Booking Holdings was originally founded as Priceline in the late 1990s and adopted the Booking Holdings name in 2018; it is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Its core offerings include online reservations for hotels, vacation rentals and other lodging; flight and car rental search and booking; and ancillary services that support travel planning and on-property experiences.